Category: BBC

Past plenum sessions have been used to declare Xi as “the core” of the Party, abolish term limits which cleared the way for him to remain in power indefinitely, and elevate his personal philosophy – branded as “Xi Jinping Thought” – to the same level as Chairman Mao. This years plenum is an opportunity for Xi to dictate strategy in the run up to the Congress, ensuring that views are aligned and delegates loyal. Even the location of the meeting, which will wrap up on Thursday, has not been announced.…

Taking a seat at a Starbucks in China? Just make sure you’re also ordering something there. A new policy by Starbucks China takes effect across all its 8,000 stores on Thursday, making it mandatory for people to purchase items if they want to sit in its cafes. Starbucks China said the move was part of efforts to improve the “in-store experience” for customers. The company is facing stiff competition from homegrown brands such as Luckin Coffee. Reports of the new policy circulated this week, along with social media videos of…

Chinese foreign minister Wang Yi has told Israel to stop its “forced establishment” of settlements in the West Bank and reverse its actions, his office said. The “Palestinian question” is “the greatest historical injustice of this century”, Wang told Israeli President Isaac Herzog in a face-to-face meeting on the sidelines of a conference in Azerbaijan on Thursday. Beijing has been a longstanding supporter of the Palestinian cause and has maintained that a “two-state solution” is the “correct direction”. It has also been positioning itself as a mediator for conflicts in…

A long-delayed road bridge linking China and North Korea has opened, Chinese state media report, amid rapidly warming trade ties between the two longtime allies. The New Yalu River Bridge spans 3km (1.9 miles) from the Chinese border city of Dandong to Sinuiju in North Korea, and is set to become the main land route for trade between the two countries. Its launch, initially slated for 2014, had been indefinitely postponed after North Korea halted construction of its roads and customs facilities, as relations with Beijing turned frosty. Experts have…

Nepal’s Prime Minister Balendra Shah used much of his speech at the recent UN General Assembly to warn of the growing threat of climate-related disasters in the Himalayas, recalling the devastating debris floods that struck his country in August. But it was his ambitious proposal to bring together regional rivals India and China, alongside Nepal, to tackle these shared threats that drew particular attention. Shah called for the creation of a Himalayan Climate Resilience Mechanism to strengthen cross-border disaster response and the sharing of scientific data and expertise in one…

So, how much of the US retail price does the factory get? “About 20%,” says Wang. On a $30 toy, that’s $6, which has to cover the price of the plastic and other materials, production costs including wages, and what profit the factory makes. Chinese factories typically make a profit of between 3% and 10%, according to Jay Foreman, chief executive of US toy firm Basic Fun. So for a $30 toy that’s between 60 and 18 cents of the $6 the factory charges to make it. Samson Ko is…

He gave an example of a young woman he once accompanied who felt ostracised at work. “She felt useless and wanted to prove something to herself,” he said. “We started climbing but it was a tough trek as the weather was really hot and we were sweating a lot. There were moments she wanted to give up but I told her, ‘If you quit now and can’t get over this mountain how will you handle anything else in life?’. I kept encouraging her.” After they made it all the way…

In China’s cities, despite the huge crowds, or maybe because of them, residents can feel very isolated. Now, a new industry being dubbed the “loneliness economy” has emerged, with people hiring themselves out as companions to help the elderly. The BBC’s China correspondent Stephen McDonell visits a company that does just that, to see how their business works. Read more about the paid companions bringing warmth to China’s lonely. BBC

On the sidelines of the Brics summit in Delhi in September, amid a deepening thaw between the Asian giants, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chinese President Xi Jinping vowed to address, external these “structural trade imbalances and supply chain issues”. But given how deeply entrenched Chinese imports have become to India’s industrial economy, this will be a formidable task for Delhi, experts told the BBC. That’s primarily because India depends on China to not merely consume end-products, but increasingly to produce industrial goods. To be true, India has reduced its…

Queen’s University of Belfast (QUB) has asked staff to review some partnerships with China after a warning from MI5. In a highly unusual move, the UK’s internal security service had warned universities they may have unintentionally assisted China’s espionage. MI5 said the China General Technology Research Institute (CGTRI) was a front company working for China’s intelligence and security service. However, a spokesperson for the Chinese Embassy in London said the accusation was “imaginary and purely fabricated”. Staff at Queen’s have now been “strongly advised to review any existing or proposed…